Elmhurst Geeks and the Rise of the Runelords

Contining to Explore the Ruins of Xin-Shalast

Whoa...That's a Potent Spell...

16

FEB/12

Lamashan 25, 4708 AR

With their undead foe defeated, the Heroes of Sandpoint began to heal their battered bodies and began to search for whatever treasure they could find in this house of death. Bahne Verember, recently returned from a brief visit to Torag’s Hall, surveyed the stonework and the structure and deduced that hollowed columns and hollowed niches in the floor.

So…Our heroes gave in to their greed and (while one furnace still billowed thick, acrid smoke) started knocking columns and flagstones to find long forgotten caches of treasure. Tapping the floors, the base of the walls and columns, our heroes soon found several stashes of hidden loot.

Piles of gold greeted their sight giant sized arm rings and jewelry, hacked into smaller pieces, was mixed with human sized jewels, hidden away by unscrupulous morgue attendants thousands of years ago, but all but forgotten after The Time of the End.

Even though the value of these hordes was in the immense, the Champions of Magnimar pissed and moaned about their discovery, lamenting the fact that the loot wasn’t exactly what they were looking for.

It was while they were pissing and moaning, their presence had alerted a patrol of giants who stormed into the Spolarium, eager to claim the glory of killing these interlopers. The patrol was made up of a huge, bronze skinned giant, clad in thick armor and able to call forth the power of lighting, identified by Lindin as a storm giant, and two stone giants.

With lighting magically summoned from the storm giant exploding on and around the heroes, and the clubs of the stone giants striking true, the group stood tall against these foes. The giants’ assault was met with an even more potent assault from the heroes of Sandpoint.

Deivon’s magical trickeration vexed his foes, while Ayra’s prayers enhanced her allies. Lindin’s arrows struck true against his quarry while Bahne stood toe to toe with the storm giant, keeping that giant’s attention on him. This allowed Erekhil the opportunity to carve, deep and precise slices into this preoccupied foe.

It wasn’t long before, once again, the Heroes of Sandpoint ruled the battlefield and surveyed their fallen adversaries.

Tending to the wounds they had taken, the group decided they were still combat effective and agreed to explore more of the city while the sun, hidden behind thick clouds, provided light. So they struck forth southward, across the rubble of Xin-Shalast, and made their way carefully, with great caution, to the cyclopean marvel of the Heptaric Lotus.

The great stadium of Xin-Shalast was still awe-inspiring, even after all these years. Still fully illuminated with its magical light, its crystal spires rising towards the heavens, it was like nothing our heroes had ever seen before. And while the great courtyard surrounding the stadium is now strewn with the rubble of the destroyed city, it was easy to see thousands upon thousands of humans and giants mingling about, waiting for the spectacle inside to start.

The magical locks of the doors still worked, and the sell-sword busied himself getting one open. Once his deft fingers finished picking the lock, the giant-sized door swung easily open, revealing a still lit interior.

The grandeur of the inside was unmatched, a clear reminder of the opulence of Shalast’s capital. Deciding to investigate the lowest levels of the structure first, our heroes soon found a ramp downwards, into Heptaric Locus’s bowels.

The descended to the lowest level into what appeared to be the holding cells of those to be sent to the stadium’s floor. While dim magical light still provided shadowy illumination, the area had an unnatural, unnerving aura. Thick walls flanked the walkway as both giant-sized and human-sized cell doors appeared at routine interval. The ceiling rose high into a complex web of arches and supports, barely discernible in the shadowed light.

Slowly surveying the area, proceeding in their patented FTOJ, the group moved forward, alert for any denizen that might call these cells home. The sell-sword and the ranger’s exceptional hearing began to notice muted, barely audible sounds emanating from the arch system above.

But, while they strained to hear what created those sounds, two creatures, formerly invisible, struck with a suddenness that was alarming. These tall, emaciated creatures, their bones protruding from their taut skin, attacked with their scorpion-like tail, the red eyes in their skull head glowing hungrily. Bahne and Lindin were on the receiving end of this wicked attack as they turned to face their newly arrived foe.

The stench of decay and rot permeated from their bodies and an unholy aura surrounded these monsters as their claws, teeth and tail tore into the dwarf and the Lord of the Hook. This decay and aura proved too much for the duo from Sandpoint and they ran, terrified, away from these creatures, each setting off a nastily hidden Flame Strike trap.

As the flames tore into the fighter and ranger’s bodies, the flying creatures laughed a hideously malevolent laugh then moved to attack their next foe.

With their melee and ranged fighter fleeing combat, the priestess and sell-sword readied spells while their sell-sword companion heroically began to pick a lock to a cell.

Knowing how quickly combat can turn against their merry band, and fearing these foes to be undead, the priestess and sorcerer each cast their most potent offensive spells, hoping to bring this combat to a quicker resolution.

It did.

The Destruction spell from the priestess and the Disintegrate spell from the Varisian utterly destroyed the two creatures. And then, in the dull glow of magical candles, his foes’ bodies still smoldering, the sell-sword continued to pick the lock.

With their enemies destroyed, and the Korvosan busy picking a random lock, Ayra and Deivon called for their fleeing comrades to return.

Upon their return, Bahne gave a little chuckle while Lindin gave a lordly speech about scouting.

Right…

But, with his detailed knowledge of his favored enemies, Lindin quickly informed the group that these beasts were Osyluths, Bone Devils, the thugs and police of the Nine Hells of Baator. Often used as informers or summoned guardians on the Material Plane, Lindin wondered to whom they were informing or what they were guarding.